If you want to play backgammon online free without an app or a sign-up, this board opens straight in your browser. It is the classic two-player race: 15 checkers each, two dice, hitting, the bar and a doubling cube. Online, every roll comes from the server, so neither player can pick a number. Play a friend with a room code, share one device, or practise against a computer opponent with four difficulty levels.

How to Play Backgammon Online Free

Backgammon is a race around a board of 24 points. White moves from the 24-point toward the 1-point, and Black moves the other way. The goal is to bring all 15 of your checkers into your home board and then bear them off before your opponent does.

1. Opening roll: each player rolls one die. The higher number moves first and plays both numbers. Ties are re-rolled.
2. Move: each die is a separate move. Doubles give you four moves.
3. Hit: land on a single enemy checker (a blot) and it goes to the bar.
4. Enter: a checker on the bar must come back in before you move anything else.
5. Bear off: once all 15 checkers are home, start removing them.

Backgammon Rules on This Board

• If you can use both dice, you must. If only one can be played, you must play the larger one when it is legal.
• A point with two or more enemy checkers is blocked.
• A higher roll can bear off a checker from a lower point only when no checker sits on a higher point.
• Scoring: a normal win is worth 1 point, multiplied by the cube. If your opponent has not borne off any checkers, it is a gammon (×2). If they also still have a checker on the bar or in your home board, it is a backgammon (×3).
• Doubling cube: before you roll, you can offer to double the stakes. Your opponent either takes and plays on for twice as much, or drops and loses the current value.
• Fair dice: in online games, the server rolls every die. Your browser never chooses a face.

Controls

• Mouse: click or drag a checker to a highlighted point, then press Confirm move.
• Touch: tap a checker and then tap its destination. The board, the bar and the bear-off trays are large tap targets on phones.
• Undo: moves stay local until you confirm, and Undo takes back the last pip played in that turn.
• There are no dedicated keyboard shortcuts, and a pip count is shown for both colours.

Game Modes

• Online with friends: create a room, share the code or invite link and play live.
• Challenge online players: see who is free in the arena and send an invite.
• Local vs: two players on one device.
• vs Computer: Beginner picks random legal moves. Easy and Medium weigh pips, safety and primes. Hard looks one move ahead across all 21 possible rolls and runs in a Web Worker, so the board stays smooth.

Backgammon is one of 67 free games on My MP Games, alongside Chess, Checkers and Go.

Match Play Variants

The classic option is a single game with the cube. The variant picker adds match play:

• Backgammon to 3: a short match using the Crawford rule.
• Backgammon to 5: a mid-length match with gammons, backgammons and Crawford.
• Backgammon to 7: a longer match where cube skill really matters.

Under the Crawford rule, when a player first reaches one point short of winning the match, nobody can double in the next game.

Backgammon Strategy Tips

• Build a prime. Six blocked points in a row trap enemy checkers completely, and even four or five make life hard.
• Unstack the midpoint. A tall stack of checkers is flexible early, but spread them out to make new points.
• Hit when it is safe. Hitting is strong unless it leaves your own blots exposed to easy return shots.
• Count pips in a race. Once contact is gone, stop hitting and simply count. The player with the lower pip count is ahead.
• Double with care. Offer the cube when you would be happy to keep playing at twice the stakes. Drop when taking would be a long-term loss.

A Short History

Backgammon belongs to one of the oldest families of board games. Race games played with dice are known from ancient Mesopotamia and Persia, and the Romans played a close relative called tabula. The modern rules were settled in England in the 1700s. The doubling cube was added in New York in the 1920s, and that single idea turned a lucky race into a deep game of risk and judgment.

Backgammon FAQ

Can I play backgammon online with a friend?

Yes. Create a room, share the code or invite link, and your friend joins from their own browser. You can also choose Local vs to play on one device.

Is this backgammon online free?

Yes. It is free to play in your browser, with no download, no account and no paywall.

Who rolls the dice in online backgammon?

The server rolls every die in online games. Neither player's browser can choose or change a roll.

Can you play backgammon by yourself?

Yes. Choose Play vs Computer and pick Beginner, Easy, Medium or Hard.

Is backgammon luck or skill?

Both. The dice add luck to every game, but over a match the better player wins far more often through checker play and smart use of the doubling cube.

What is a gammon in backgammon?

A gammon is a win where your opponent has not borne off a single checker. It scores double. A backgammon scores triple if they also still have a checker on the bar or in your home board.

What is the Crawford rule?

In match play, when a player first reaches one point short of winning the match, the next game is played without the doubling cube.